December 5, 2010 on CNN
Comedian Bill Maher explains how he thinks Glenn Beck has changed from politician to preacher.(Thanks James)
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Bill Maher: Glenn Beck Like L. Ron Hubbard
December 5, 2010 on CNN
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Bill was pretty good in this interview. The world would be laughing at the religious nutters in America if they weren't so worried about them taking over.
ReplyDeleteNo, Bill, we in Europe and elsewhere are not laughing. We are scared shitless. You guys have this insane lunatics, millions of them, grabbing for power, and you are by far the most powerful and influential country on this planet.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am afraid of terrorists getting WOMS in Pakistan and elsewhere, but I am also very afraid of Sarah Palin or some other religious extremist taking over America and than who knows..
Unfortunately, Maher didn't mention Beck's attack on separation.
ReplyDeleteGlen Beck's team-up with the Xn historian David Barton on TV is one of the most formidable attacks on the separation of church and state ever unleashed. Barton's stuff is extremely slick, and the aim is to convince people that America was founded as a Christian Nation. Barton talks and Beck eats it up. What they're getting away with is jaw-dropping unbelievable.
Chris Rodda, author of the book <span>Liars For Jesus,</span> has started a series of debunking videos which are available at the Liars For Jesus site. Text versions/transcripts are available for most. In introduction, Chris writes:
"Earlier this year, pseudo-historian David Barton hooked up with Fox News crazy person Glenn Beck, becoming a recurring guest "historian" on Beck's TV show and appearing at a number of Beck's events, gaining a whole new, and much larger, audience for his historical hogwash. So, back in June, I began posting an ongoing video series on the Huffington Post, debunking the lies told by Barton on Beck's show."
Note the "much larger audience" part.
To show what's going on, I provide a YouTube link to the video titled "No, Mr. Beck, Congress Did Not Print a Bible for the Use of Schools" at Rodda's channel.
BTW, the book <span>Liars For Jesus</span> has an extremely liberal policy towards quoting:
"Not too many rights reserved. The use of a reasonable amount of the content of this book is fine with me, provided that it is used for the purpose of correcting the historical myths and lies of the religious right -- wherever they may be lurking or may appear. By a reasonable amount, I mean as much as is necessary to thoroughly and successfully disprove a particular lie or list of lies, whether that is one paragraph or ten pages. In other words, use what you need, but don't go copying entire chapters onto your website or anything."
In the culture war, I see the Beck/Barton team-up as a "big battle" and one that we'll most likely lose.
P.S. Another nice online essay attacking "Christian Nation" propaganda is titled The Christian Nation Myth by Farrell Till. I link to it often.
Of course, another approach is to point out that the founders could have used the many theocratic models available when they formed the Constitution. Instead, they created a completely secular constitution.
These clowns make me laugh on this side of the pond.
ReplyDeleteAmerica is a country increasingly run by morons, but this is what happens when you allow 'fear' to run amok - it was once fear of the communists, now it is fear of islamist, humanists and those dreadful homosexuals! The more people feed into this irrational fear, the more irrational they will themselves become. Fearful people are by nature irrational.
In responce to Darwin's post above - These idiots have real power already, and that makes them far more dangerous then a few bearded morons hiding out in caves!
The last thing we need to do in Europe is become 'fearful' of America. We need to remind America she looks pity stupid at the moment, but then trust that they can get their house in order, and not in the meantime give into our own fantastical fears of what the future will hold.
We have own irrational fears in Europe that also need to be confronted - such as the idea that a small percentage of muslim extremists in Europe are going to impose Sharia law etc., absolute rubbish - but it does keep us fearful - and potentially that is our own worse enemy.